Laurel had been sent to go and pick up some very delicate materials from Oberon Spaceport. Laurel was irritated at herself because she was late. She was late because like an idiot new to the moon she had gone to the wrong spaceport. Heading to the commercial one instead of the private one her company had used to discreetly get this delicate material to the moon. She was over an hour behind schedule and this could not wait. Entering the giant bay doors she could smell oil and everything was a little dirtier than she expected. Most of Neo Miami was clean way cleaner than Laurel was used to back on earth. It was almost comforting for her to see a little grime. She talked to a very tired employee about her package, he had either spent all night out at the Zero G Arcade living it up or the space port overworked the poor guy. The bags under his eyes were very apparent. It was nice to see another black person, everyone else on the moon was so pale it really made Laurel stick out like a sore thumb. Still she did not have a lot of time for niceties so she was korjal but short with him, and sent him off in search of her equipment. She waited. Annoyed that she had to wait. Her week was a constantly ticking clock the higher ups wanted to see progress from her on monday a working prototype, that or a not working Laurel. The problem was she could not move forward without this key piece of testing material. Laurel was still nervous about this project, it was a great opportunity but, she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with what she would be doing. What was this employees name again, he was taking forever and Laurel needed him to hurry up. Jason something, his name was Jason. She needed Jason to hurry the hell up. Jason finally came back a mech following him holding a package he definitely could have carried himself. These Mech heads will do anything to have a robot do the work for them, even if it meant wasting everyone else’s time. He had the Mech set down the package, but it didn’t set it down. It glitched. Suddenly the package was on the ground toppling over. Laurel held her breath. Jason’s eyes went wide. Now lying exposed on the grimy floor, Laurel had the audacity to enjoy earlier, was the living beating human heart she needed for her prototype. It was still beating and even pace. Meanwhile, Laurel and Jason’s hearts were both pounding out of there chests. Jason never really thought much about the packages his company had him move around but he never thought it was acting as a black market trafficking organs. Did his supervisor know, did his supervisors’ supervisor know. Who did he report this too, his boss or the police. Laurel was desperately scooping up the heart careful not to sever its ties to the growth chamber and breathing mask that had been jury rigged to keep it beating. She looked at Jason, the shock on her face telling her everything she needed to know. She was in deep shit. She should have just quit. When she found out about the experiments that were going on at Shemi Corp, she should have high tailed it back to earth, or sensibly gone to the cops. There were cops everywhere in Neo Miami. But now, she had to illegally traffic a human heart that had made it all the way to the moon without anyone realizing what it was. Then, all it took was one lug head and his big ass robot to take that away from her. Laurel made a half assed excuse about it being synthetic but very delicate. That didn’t change the look on Jason’s face. So she doubled down and got out of there as quick as possible. Going just over the speed limit the entire way back to her lab. She was on edge the whole way back to her lab. Constantly looking over her shoulder, accidentally running a red light and stopping at a green light. Luckily she did not get pulled over. For a town with so many copies she had luckily avoided any sight of them. Jason told himself it was nothing and not to worry about it. He did not need to get up into anybody else's business. He was an honest man that believed in the goodness of others. That did not change the fact that there was a human heart on the floor of his garage a few minutes ago. His head spun and his chest ached. He should do something. He did not want to do anything. Laurel got back to her lab. Breathing in a deep sye of relief. The air always felt synthetic it was never going to be the same as air on earth but she had to ignore her discomfort and get to work. Her paranoia settling away. She was still on a deadline. She looked around her lab. It was clean for her but messy for Neo Miami’s standards. She looked for an empty surface to set down her package. She was gentle, this heart was her future. Feeling it beat in her hands was a sensation that is indescribable, but still kind of sticky. When you look at a human heart you do not expect it to be sticky, yet Laurel could feel it, sticky. She was going to enhance the shit out of this heart. She looked at her mockup it was complex and a little chunky but, she did not have time to revise it. She had to prove she could make a heart work twice as well, twice as long, and for half the strain on a human body. She worked all night, way beyond her required hours. She nodded off, just conscious enough not to let her head fall onto her work. Not conscious enough to hear the sirens going off a few stories below her.
Entering the giant bay doors she could smell oil and everything was a little dirtier than she expected. Most of Neo Miami was clean way cleaner than Laurel was used to back on earth. It was almost comforting for her to see a little grime. She talked to a very tired employee about her package, he had either spent all night out at the Zero G Arcade living it up or the space port overworked the poor guy. The bags under his eyes were very apparent. It was nice to see another black person, everyone else on the moon was so pale it really made Laurel stick out like a sore thumb. Still she did not have a lot of time for niceties so she was korjal but short with him, and sent him off in search of her equipment.
She waited. Annoyed that she had to wait. Her week was a constantly ticking clock the higher ups wanted to see progress from her on monday a working prototype, that or a not working Laurel. The problem was she could not move forward without this key piece of testing material.
Laurel was still nervous about this project, it was a great opportunity but, she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with what she would be doing.
What was this employees name again, he was taking forever and Laurel needed him to hurry up. Jason something, his name was Jason. She needed Jason to hurry the hell up.
Jason finally came back a mech following him holding a package he definitely could have carried himself. These Mech heads will do anything to have a robot do the work for them, even if it meant wasting everyone else’s time. He had the Mech set down the package, but it didn’t set it down. It glitched. Suddenly the package was on the ground toppling over. Laurel held her breath. Jason’s eyes went wide.
Now lying exposed on the grimy floor, Laurel had the audacity to enjoy earlier, was the living beating human heart she needed for her prototype. It was still beating and even pace. Meanwhile, Laurel and Jason’s hearts were both pounding out of there chests.
Jason never really thought much about the packages his company had him move around but he never thought it was acting as a black market trafficking organs. Did his supervisor know, did his supervisors’ supervisor know. Who did he report this too, his boss or the police.
Laurel was desperately scooping up the heart careful not to sever its ties to the growth chamber and breathing mask that had been jury rigged to keep it beating. She looked at Jason, the shock on her face telling her everything she needed to know. She was in deep shit. She should have just quit. When she found out about the experiments that were going on at Shemi Corp, she should have high tailed it back to earth, or sensibly gone to the cops. There were cops everywhere in Neo Miami. But now, she had to illegally traffic a human heart that had made it all the way to the moon without anyone realizing what it was. Then, all it took was one lug head and his big ass robot to take that away from her.
Laurel made a half assed excuse about it being synthetic but very delicate. That didn’t change the look on Jason’s face. So she doubled down and got out of there as quick as possible. Going just over the speed limit the entire way back to her lab. She was on edge the whole way back to her lab. Constantly looking over her shoulder, accidentally running a red light and stopping at a green light. Luckily she did not get pulled over. For a town with so many copies she had luckily avoided any sight of them.
Jason told himself it was nothing and not to worry about it. He did not need to get up into anybody else's business. He was an honest man that believed in the goodness of others. That did not change the fact that there was a human heart on the floor of his garage a few minutes ago. His head spun and his chest ached. He should do something. He did not want to do anything.
Laurel got back to her lab. Breathing in a deep sye of relief. The air always felt synthetic it was never going to be the same as air on earth but she had to ignore her discomfort and get to work. Her paranoia settling away. She was still on a deadline. She looked around her lab. It was clean for her but messy for Neo Miami’s standards. She looked for an empty surface to set down her package. She was gentle, this heart was her future. Feeling it beat in her hands was a sensation that is indescribable, but still kind of sticky. When you look at a human heart you do not expect it to be sticky, yet Laurel could feel it, sticky.
She was going to enhance the shit out of this heart. She looked at her mockup it was complex and a little chunky but, she did not have time to revise it. She had to prove she could make a heart work twice as well, twice as long, and for half the strain on a human body. She worked all night, way beyond her required hours. She nodded off, just conscious enough not to let her head fall onto her work. Not conscious enough to hear the sirens going off a few stories below her.